Program for Investment in the Small Capital Enterprise Sector (PISCES); Assisting the Smallest Economic Activities of the Urban Poor: A Report on the Third in a Series of PISCES Workshops

摘要

In June 1984 a seminar was held in Washington, D.C., to discuss lessons learned from the Phase II Program for Investment in the Small Capital Enterprise Sector (PISCES) demonstration projects in four countries. Abridged versions of talks given by members of the PISCES team are presented in the document. Conference presentations covered PISCES' history and development impact since its inception in 1976 and discussed the nature of the informal sector and issues relating to its assistance, including appropriate interventions and the need to distinguish between microenterprises and pre-entrepreneurs (people with extremely low-productivity activities). Also discussed were lessons learned from PISCES programs in Africa (where PISCES focused on pre-entrepreneurial clients in an integrated community improvement context), in Latin America (where credit and management assistance were extended to groups of individual street vendors, artisans, and others and to microenterprises), and in Asia (where the need for umbrella organizations to act as intermediaries for PVO's and large donor organizations was noted). Finally, major conclusions from Phases I and II are summarized. Participants' comments and a list of conference participants are appended.